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Children of Divorced Parents. Grace Haglund Ball State University CPSY 644 Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Mission Statements. PERSONAL. MUNCIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS.
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Children of Divorced Parents Grace Haglund Ball State University CPSY 644 Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Mission Statements PERSONAL MUNCIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS I will strive to improve the quality of life for every student I come into contact with, while working collaboratively with faculty, parents, and the school corporation …to provide a quality educational environment that allows every student to maximize his or her potential and upon graduation, possess the basic skills necessary to be a positive, productive, contributing member of society
Beliefs and Philosophy • We agree that students with divorced parents are more likely to decline in academics, following the divorce • We agree that students with divorced parents are more likely to develop behavioral or emotional issues • Our overall goal is for this program to improve the students’ academics and relationships by improving their coping skills and self-esteem.
RATIONALE • Students’ sense of worth is connected with effective learning • Low academic achievement is correlated to low levels of self-esteem, low social interactions with peers (Kaniuka, 2010). • Students’ ability to cope effectively impacts them mentally, emotionally, and socially (Frydenberg, Lewis, Bugalski, Cotta, McCarthy, Luscombe-Smith, & Poole, 2004). • By improving self-esteem and coping skills, academic and behavior improvement can occur
Current Research: Effects on Children • Children aged 6–7 living with both parents generally had better emotional well-being than similar aged children living with one parent (Baxter, Weston, & Qu,2011). • The experience of parental divorce raises rates of adolescent delinquency (Burt, Barnes, McGue, & Iacono, 2008). • Students who are younger when their parents divorce have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing problems; students who are older when divorce occurs have lower grades (Lansford, Malone, Castellino, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 2006).
Current Research: Effects on Children • Father-child relationships suffer more than mother-child relationships after divorce. Depending on the continued level of parent conflict post-divorce, social support and relationship anxiety levels vary (Riggio, 2004). • Separation, family conflict, and negative parental representations are linked with children’s behavioral/emotional problems (Stadelmann, Perren, Groeben, & von Klitzing, 2010).
Current Research: Possible Interventions • Programs that teach students coping responses, such as optimism and problem-solving skills were shown to be effective in helping both self-esteem and every day stressors. These programs also need to dismiss ineffective coping skills. (Frydenberg, et. al, 2004). • Parenting programs which aimed to reduce externalizing/ internalizing problems through improvement in mother– child relationships through improving methods of discipline and communication were shown effective (Tein, Sandler, MacKinnon, & Wolchik, 2004).
Current Research: Possible Interventions- New Beginnings Program (NBP) • Divorce increases risk for mental health, physical health, and social adaptation problems. A way to prevent these issues is to educate the parents on how to have healthy relationships with their ex and their children and appropriate discipline methods. (Wolchik, Schenck, & Sandler, 2009). • After parents completed this program, their children had higher GPAs over the span of 6 years. Children’s ability to adjust to change and accept/cope with difficult situations improved after their parents completed NBP (Zhou, Sandler, Millsap, Wolchik, & Dawson-McClure, 2008) .
ASCA National Standards • Personal/Social Development • Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others. • PS: A1 Acquire Self-knowledge • PS: A1.5- Identify and express feelings • PS: A1.12- Identify and recognize changing family roles
ASCA National Standards • Personal/Social Development • Standard B: Students will make decisions, set goals and take necessary action to achieve goals • PS: B1 Self-knowledge Application • PS: B1. 4- Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems
Group Information • Students whose parents have divorced/separated (parent referral) • 8-10 students • Elementary school setting • Grades 3-5 • All races/ethnicities, genders • Five, 45 minute weekly sessions, the final session will be 60 minutes • Held after school • Individual counseling available as well
Overview of Sessions • Session One • What does having divorced parents mean to you? • Have students share their feelings, thoughts, reactions to having divorced parents • Have students share how they have grown or changed since the divorce • Session Two • What are coping skills? • Define and give examples of coping skills • Have students identify skills they think they already possess • Session Three • What does your family look like now? • Have students identify ways that their families have changed since the divorce • Have students write a letter to each family member sharing how they view them before and after the divorce • Session Four • What is self-esteem? • Have students write out what they think it means to have good self-esteem • Have students write out ways they think they may not have self-esteem and how it can change • Session Five (60 min) • Put it all together! • Have students reflect on what they have learned about themselves, coping skills, and self-esteem over the past four weeks • Share resources that are available to them, discuss further individual counseling
Data Collected • Pre/post tests for students • Administered at beginning of first session and beginning of the last session • 1. How do you deal with your feelings about the divorce? • 2. Who do you talk to about these feelings? • 3. When you get upset, sad, or angry about the divorce what do you do? • 4. What are three things you are good at doing? • 5. When you make a mistake, how do you deal with it? • 6. When do you feel the happiest about yourself?
Data Collected-Parents/Teachers • Pre/post tests for parents/teachers • Administered before the first session and before the last session • 1. How do you cope with the divorce? (parent only) • 2. How often does your student see their other parent? (parent only) • 3. Do you talk with your student about how he/she is feeling? If so, how often? • 4. How does your student act at home/school? • 5. How has your student changed since the divorce? (pre-intervention) • 5. How has your student changed since the weekly sessions? (post-intervention)
References • Baxter, J., Weston, R., & Qu, L. (2011). Family structure, co-parental relationship quality, post-separation paternal involvement and children's emotional wellbeing. Journal Of Family Studies, 17(2), 86-109. • Burt, S., Barnes, A. R., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2008). Parental divorce and adolescent delinquency: Ruling out the impact of common genes. Developmental Psychology, 44(6), 1668-1677. • Frydenberg, E., Lewis, R., Bugalski, K., Cotta, A., McCarthy, C., Luscombe-Smith, N., & Poole, C. (2004). Prevention is better than cure: Coping skills training for adolescents at school. Educational Psychology In Practice, 20(2), 117-134. • Kaniuka, T. S. (2010). Reading achievement, attitude toward reading, and reading self-esteem of historically low achieving students. Journal Of Instructional Psychology, 37(2), 184-188.
References • Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Castellino, D. R., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and grades for children who have and have not experienced their parents' divorce or separation. Journal Of Family Psychology, 20(2), 292-301. • Riggio, H. R. (2004). Parental marital conflict and divorce, parent-child relationships, social support, and relationship anxiety in young adulthood. Personal Relationships, 11(1), 99-114. • Stadelmann, S., Perren, S., Groeben, M., & von Klitzing, K. (2010). Parental separation and children's behavioral/emotional problems: The impact of parental representations and family conflict. Family Process, 49(1), 92-108.
References • Tein, J., Sandler, I. N., MacKinnon, D. P., & Wolchik, S. A. (2004). How did it work? Who did it work for? Mediation in the context of a moderated prevention effect for children of divorce. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 72(4), 617-624. • Wolchik, S. A., Schenck, C. E., & Sandler, I. N. (2009). Promoting resilience in youth from divorced families: Lessons learned from experimental trials of the new beginnings program. Journal Of Personality, 77(6), 1833-1868. • Zhou, Q., Sandler, I. N., Millsap, R. E., Wolchik, S. A., & Dawson-McClure, S. R. (2008). Mother-child relationship quality and effective discipline as mediators of the 6-year effects of the New Beginnings Program for children from divorced families. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 76(4), 579-594.